Davo Karnicar, from Slovenia, made the first (and only) complete ski descent of Everest, skiing from the summit to base camp in under 5 hours. He made use of supplementary oxygen during his ascent and descent.

He reached the summit around 7am on 7 October with Franc Oderlap, Ang Dorjee Sherpa and Passang Tenzing Sherpa. At around 8am he began his ski descent. The rest of the team descended conventionally.

Karnikar told Planet Mountain:

"I got round the Hillary Step by skiing to the left, down a kind of exposed gully. From there to the South Summit the descent is very technical, and from here I continued without oxygen. The next part is pretty delicate as there’s a risk of avalanches. I didn’t exactly feel comfortable skiing on those wind slabs!"

Lower down the mountain, he avoided the icefall by following a high diagonal line, directly below the south face of Everest.